RT: Saudi Arabia has always been shy about taking part in military action and yet it is leading a whole coalition
in Yemen. What has changed in Riyadh under the new King do you think?
ED: There are two questions here. First of all the question is whether or not anything is really changed... Is really Saudi Arabia leading a coalition
? I would argue that in some ways they are in name and from the public relation standpoint, but in practice not really because the Saudi military is an extension of the US military. The Saudi military employs foreign mercenaries that they pay essentially to do a lot of their dirty work. There is very real question as to the extent to which Saudi Arabia is really coordinating all of these. One the one hand is Saudi Arabia leading a coalition
in practice or Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition
in name - that is certainly up for debate. Secondly, there is clearly an attempt to assert a sort of hegemonic military presence from the perspective of Saudi Arabia. You’ve had political factions which have been put in place in the government in Saudi Arabia in recent months that are seeking to carve out a sort of a reputation for themselves as major military players in the region. They have always been that. But what they are trying to do now is to take on this international issue and to show themselves to be assertive and capable militarily. This is an illusion because … Saudi Arabia is deeply indebted to the US for all of its military supplies. They are indebted to US military advisers and other military advisers to be fair to show how to use the weapons, how to employ the weapons, how to do the targeting, all of that.
Saudi Arabia is also coordinating with the US on the ground in Yemen. US CIA, US military intelligence, US assets are all on the ground in Yemen providing targeting and other necessary elements of this offensive. It is somewhat of an illusion to think of this is as truly a Saudi military operation. This is international consensus that is led by Saudi Arabia nominally but is backed behind the scenes by the US, and that is really where the attention needs to be focused. What is the US is attempting to do by continuing to foment that civil war in Yemen under the auspice of protecting so-called legitimacy.
RT: The new King's son is the country's Defense Minister, who's very young. Do you think the new generation of the ruling elite in Yemen is becoming increasingly militarized in its thinking?
ED: Certainly the younger generation in Saudi Arabia is increasingly militarized. Unfortunately Saudi Arabia is not increasingly democratized - this is one of the major stories that need to be addressed. Absolutely you can see a younger generation coming into power wanting to assert themselves, shifting some of the power within the House of Saud away from the older factions toward these newer factions, various branches of this large extended family. All of that is absolutely true. I would return to that question of monarchy and the notion that Saudi Arabia, one of the most, if not the most, undemocratic states where the people … have absolutely no say in any of these moves: who is the defense minister, who is in the government, who is out of the government… Saudi Arabia is going to come in to save democracy in Yemen- this is a cruel joke, it is cruel to the people of Yemen, and it is an insult to the intelligence of people internationally. So, yes, there are changes in Saudi government but unfortunately none of those changes are democracy.